This invention relates to a doll wig comprising a transparent cap wherein individual strands of hair are attached thereto without pattern. The doll wig is used on porcelain dolls to give a natural looking hair style, but it can also be used on dolls made of other materials such as plastic.
Several people around the United States and throughout the world collect dolls. Porcelain dolls are a favorite collector""s item because of the fine detail and delicate features of the figurines. Doll makers dress them with simple outfits or with very extravagant dresses made from the finest materials. Facial features are extremely important because it portrays the doll""s life-like appearance. Eyes appear human-like and the eye-lashes are full and long. At a glance, one could often easily mistake a porcelain doll for a small child. In fact, many people request doll makers to construct dolls that resemble their own children, friends or relatives.
The natural appearance of the porcelain dolls can be attributed to the amount of detail used in constructing the doll""s facial features, hands, fingers and hair. For example, to achieve the correct skin tone for a porcelain doll, a wash is painted on the doll""s head and then baked. Several coats of wash may be used to achieve the correct skin tone and shading. The doll""s head can be baked from four to five different times. At each stage more features are added, such as the eyes, eyelashes, eyebrows and the shading of the lips and cheeks. The doll""s head is made of porcelain and usually comprises an opening being about 1 to 3xc2xd inches in diameter for eye insertion. The opening, which is typically located at the crown of the porcelain doll""s head, is later covered by a pate. The pate can be made of cork, cloth, styrofoam or other hard material. To finish the features of the doll""s head, the hair must be attached, which generally covers the pate.
Regardless of the amount of detail made and highlighted in a porcelain doll""s facial features, porcelain dolls have one significant drawback in their appearancexe2x80x94their hair. No matter what efforts have been made, doll wigs have never had a natural and realistic appearance. The hair does not move like natural human hair, nor can it be styled like human hair. Overall, unnatural looking hair deteriorates the quality and realistic appearance of the finished porcelain doll.
Unlike wigs or hair-replacements for humans, dolls"" hair has different requirements for several reasons. First, a doll""s wig needs to cover and conceal the pate at the top of the porcelain doll""s head. The pate has a different color and texture, making a clear and unrealistic demarcation with the porcelain head. Second, dolls are not subject to inclimate weather. Dolls, especially collector porcelain dolls, are placed in a safe place away from the wind, rain, humidity and severe heat or cold. Third, human hair-replacements are subject to wear and tear every day through styling processes such as brushing, combing and washing. The doll""s hair of the instant invention can be styled repeatedly, but the life of the doll wig is significantly prolonged because it will not be styled as frequently as human hair-replacements. Further, doll""s hair may be designed to show regional baldness while human hair-replacements are designed to conceal baldness. Also, unlike human scalps, the scalps of dolls do not need to breathe. The non-ventilated cap of the instant invention would become uncomfortable on humans because it would trap the heat and perspiration generated by a human""s head. Because the scalps of doll""s heads do not need to be in contact with air, perspiration and breathing problems do not exist with dolls. Because of these different requirements, and due to the smaller sizes needed for dolls, doll designers do not look to human hair-replacements to acquire doll wigs or learn new manufacturing designs and techniques.
The unnatural appearance of a doll""s hair can be attributed to the archaic design and techniques used to make the doll""s wig, as well as the method used to attach the doll""s hair to the head. As shown in FIG. 1, one commonly used method includes creating multiple holes in a spaced relationship in the doll""s head for permanently attaching large bundles of hair filaments thereto. This method is extremely impractical for porcelain dolls because the brittle porcelain has a tendency to crack and break during the drilling stage. Also, the scalp of the porcelain doll looks unnatural if the hair is parted in any fashion.
Other design techniques and methods include a doll wig having a cap made of netting, which is attached to the doll""s head by glue or other conventional permanent attachment methods. As shown in FIG. 2, wigs made of netting are comprised of multiple layers of netting and cloth dyed to match the hair color. With this design, it is not preferable to show the surface of the doll""s scalp, which is netting or some other cloth, by parting or brushing the hair aside. Further, the multiple layers of material cause the doll wig to look bulky, further contributing to the unrealistic appearance of the doll""s hair.
FIGS. 2 and 3 show the netting type doll wigs used in the past, wherein hair is stitched in concentric-parallel circle patterns or rows. This technique is commonly known as xe2x80x9cweft knitting.xe2x80x9d The doll wig is then finished with a centerpoint at the crown of the doll""s head having a bundle of hair extending therefrom. Further, because the hair filaments are sewn in the concentric parallel circles from the outer parameter of the wig to the crown, the hair must be sewn extremely dense to cover the netting or cloth between adjacent rows, adding to the unnatural appearance.
The problems with these past methods of hair attachment are numerous. First, as previously stated, close examination of the scalp area of the doll""s head reveals the unnatural bundles and pate as shown in FIG. 1 or the netting itself as shown in FIG. 2. Therefore, the hair needs to be very thick to hide these imperfections. Also, doll wigs usually shed because of the loose rooting techniques used to attach such large bundles of hair.
Further, the doll""s hair is difficult to restyle. More specifically, the styling or position of a part in the doll""s wig is fixed and is not intended to be changed by restyling. For example, if bangs were originally styled in the left direction, they cannot be styled in the right direction without showing netting. Those familiar with hair styling know that hair roots play an important role in the styling process. Hair roots control hair volume and the direction of hair growth. Most notably, styling problems are common with porcelain dolls trying to resemble younger boys. Boy dolls are rarely made because the hair style which is commonly known in the art as the xe2x80x9cDutch boyxe2x80x9d look as shown in FIG. 4, is the only style typically available.
Still further, doll wigs which utilize netting have attachment problems. The netting will not allow for a close, snug fit to the doll""s head. Usually, doll wigs must be permanently attached in place using glue, or other permanent attachment method. If the doll wig needs to be removed, dry glue cannot be removed from the wig or the porcelain head of the doll without damaging the same. Therefore, whenever glue is used to attach a wig to a doll, the wig typically cannot be reused on another doll. Also, attachment problems become more severe when the doll wig needs to be attached in the side burn area along the jaw line. xe2x80x9cPoppingxe2x80x9d often occurs in these contoured areas, causing the doll wig to bulge.
Another problem doll collectors face is the lack of selection of hair styles for individual and personalized porcelain dolls. In most instances, a specific hair style and color is selected from the standard styles and sizes available. The doll designer may try to cut and shape the selected wig to more closely resemble the style he or she is trying to duplicate. However, the doll designer is confined to the selected style because of the limitations discussed above. Because of significant cost factors and considerations, the doll manufacturer does not like to deviate from the standard hair styles available to accommodate the doll collector""s personal preferences.
Another styling problem occurs when a balding pattern is attempted. Obviously, if eyes are inserted through the crown of the head, a pate is needed to close the opening in the doll""s head. Realistic baldness cannot be achieved because the pate needs to be covered. Without covering the pate with a wig or other covering, the pate is exposed, leaving disparities with the scalp color and contours of the doll""s head. If a doll head is used that does not have a hole in the crown area, the eyes must be either painted directly on the doll""s head or inserted through the more restricted hole in the neck region. As a result, the realistic appearance of these other facial features must be sacrificed.
Still another styling problem occurs when the doll maker attempts to achieve the appearance of an infant having very fine hair, which is typical with small infants. A cap made of netting cannot be used because it needs a high hair density to hide the netting. In the past and before the instant invention, a single row of hair is typically sewn to netting and then glued to the crown of the baby doll""s head as shown in FIG. 4. The hair filaments are made long enough to cover the remaining area of the doll""s head. More specifically, the hair filaments lay on the doll""s head. If the hair filaments are pushed aside, the doll""s scalp is simply exposed and the unrealistic rooting technique being used is revealed.
In summation, there is nothing currently in the art capable of giving doll wigs a more natural human-like appearance. The purpose of this invention is to provide a doll hair-piece that is versatile, restylable and gives a natural, realistic and life-like appearance.
The present invention solves the aforementioned problems by providing a doll head with an attachable wig. The doll wig comprises a thin cap made of a translucent, polymer resin material, such as polyurethane, silicone, resin or polypropylene. The entire thin cap or select isolated areas can be made of the polymer material. In this invention, hairs are attached to the polymer portion of the thin cap individually and not in bundles or clusters. This construction helps to give the hair a more life-like appearance. More specifically, with the exception of a styrofoam pate, an acrylic paint is painted directly to the pate and dried to match the skin tone of the doll""s head. With styrofoam, a primer is applied first in the manner described in more detail with the preferred embodiment. When the wig is placed on the doll, the skin tone of the doll""s head can be seen through the polymer cap, giving the hair style a natural appearance. Parts in the hair look natural because the hair appears as appendages of the scalp and the color of the scalp is the same as the doll""s skin tone.
With this invention, doll wigs can be custom made to suit a doll collector""s preference, and the hair can be easily restyled. Another benefit concerns friction between the polymer material and the porcelain doll head. With this invention, friction is much greater than netting or cloth. Higher friction between the two surfaces provides a snugger fit to the porcelain so less permanent adhesion techniques are required to secure the doll wig to the doll""s head. Further, since the doll wig in this invention provides for a snugger fit, there appears a more realistic transition between the face of the doll and its scalp.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide doll hair for porcelain dolls that are life-like.
Another object of the present invention is to provide doll hair wherein the cap of the doll wig is substantially transparent such that the doll""s skin tone can be seen through the cap.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a doll wig that is removable and reusable.
Still, another object of the present invention is to provide doll hair where the hairs are individually attached to the cap of the doll wig.
Yet, another object of the present invention is to provide a doll wig which fits snugly to a doll""s head and prevents xe2x80x9cpoppingxe2x80x9d around contours of the doll""s head, such as the side-burn and jaw line locations.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a doll wig with more adjustability in size than typical doll wigs.
Further, another object of the present invention is to provide a doll wig wherein the hair style can be easily changed through conventional styling methods.
Another object of the present invention is to provide doll hair that provides hair style versatility to satisfy customers"" personal preferences.
Still yet, another object of the present invention is to provide doll hair that is capable of underlooping so that the edge of the wig is not easily perceptible, providing doll hair that has a more natural transition from the doll""s face to the wig.
Still, another object and embodiment of the present invention is to provide doll hair that uses a lesser amount of hair to construct the doll wig.
Still yet, another object of the present invention is to provide doll hair which permits more versatile hair styles or hair lines, including but not limited to partial baldness in places.
Further, another object of the present invention is to provide doll hair for a porcelain doll with a child-like resemblance having thin hair.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a doll wig that doesn""t shed.
Another object of the present invention is to provide doll hair which is economically affordable in view of all the advantages it has to offer.
Further, an object of the present invention is to provide another embodiment of the doll wig where only a portion of the cap is made of the transparent polymer.
Other objects and features of the present invention will be obvious to those skilled in the art upon contemplation of the disclosure herein in connection with the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood, however, that the drawings are designed for the purpose of illustration only and not as a definition of the limits of the instant invention, for which reference should be made to the claims appended hereto.